i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, washington. >>> well, elsewhere in politics, missouri senate candidate todd akin again says he will stay in the race despite his con throw verse y'all comments on rape last month. today is the deadline to get a court order to drop out of the race. after last month's interview, he lost most republican campaign money, but now a conservative fundraising pac is seriously considering whether to come to akin's aid because he may have a legitimate chance to beat claire mccaskill. >>> newly released numbers shows the high school class of 2012 has s.a.t. reading scores that hit a four decade low. it focuses on reading, sentence structure and vocabulary. they've been gradually declining for years. a majority of test takers, 57%, didn't score high enough to have success in college. many attribute it to a record number of students taking the test including 1/4 from low income backgrounds. just a reminder for you, be sure to tune into coverage of education nation coverage on american schools. that's all this week across the platforms of nbc news. you can get involved